Alternative Excellence

In this exclusive interview, we sit down with Julian Ebbutt, Managing Director at ANON Drinks, to learn more about their innovative range of non-alcoholic spirits and how they can enhance a hotel’s beverage offering. ANON Drinks is committed to providing high-quality, alcohol-free alternatives that allow customers to enjoy their favourite drinks without compromise. From their unique seasonal creations, like the Christmas Pudding Spirit, to their year-round best-sellers, ANON offers an array of options that can elevate a hotel’s bar experience while meeting the growing demand for mindful drinking choices.

Introduce us to ANON as a brand and what you strive to achieve.

Our aim is to create a range of drinks, which offer a great, tasty alternative to their alcoholic equivalent. We passionately believe that the customer should be given the choice and ability to moderate/reduce their alcohol intake and by offering these spirits that are designed to be served and enjoyed in the same way as their alcoholic counterpart, hotels, restaurants and bars will certainly see the benefits.

The Christmas Pudding Spirit sounds delicious, can you tell us about this?

We felt we wanted a range of drinks to suit all of the seasons and worked hard to develop our Spiced Cane to be a winter favourite. Our Christmas Pudding spirit is based on our Spiced Cane with the additional flavours of winter fruits and warming spice notes and available as a festive special/limited edition from November until the end of January, to ensure it can still be enjoyed through the ever-popular Dry January!

How would you serve the Christmas Pudding Spirit in a hotel bar? Tell us about glass choice, mixer and garnishes.

We would serve it in many different ways: it works really well as a ‘mulled’ drink with either warm apple juice or warm red wine in a thick, warmed glass/tumbler with a slice of apple and/or a stick of cinnamon. Alternatively, it makes a great mixer with a shot of cold brew espresso and topped with lightly whipped double cream to make a beautiful Christmas cocktail – best served in a classic martini glass.

Why is it important for hotel bars to offer seasonal drinks offerings?

I think hotels should consider their non-alcoholic offering throughout the year. Increasingly people are looking to reduce or moderate their alcohol intake for multiple reasons, whether it be health, religion, fitness, pregnancy, driving etc. and hotels that offer a great range of non-alcoholic alternatives will certainly see the benefits and will find they will see an increase in average spend and profits.

Tell us about your best-selling products and how these can fit into a hotel bar?

We offer a range of five award-winning non-alcoholic spirits which are each designed to mimic their alcoholic equivalent - Bittersweet Aperitif, think Aperol, English Garden, think Pimms, Spiced Cane think rum, No Groni, think Negroni and Christmas Pudding think spiced rum - so they should easily fit into any hotel bar offering, appealing to the discerning drinker.